Mail processing system and method with increased processing speed

ABSTRACT

A mail processing system utilizes a conveyor to shingle or de-shingle mailpieces as they move through the processing system and utilizes belts to move the mailpieces. A first shingling conveyor moves a first mailpiece to overlap with a second mailpiece to create shingled mailpieces. A second shingling conveyor moves a first mailpiece away from a second mailpiece to de-shingle them to create singulated mailpieces. A camera takes images of the mailpieces in the conveyor and image analysis software is used to determine dimensional aspects of the mailpieces that are used to control the belt speeds to move mailpieces with respect to each other. A mail processing system may include a mail processing station that scans addresses, applies postage and/or weighs the mailpieces. Mail may be de-shingled prior to being weighed and then re-shingled for subsequent processing, or mail may be shingled prior to passing through a scale if weighing is not necessary.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/765,563, which is a national stage entryapplication under 35 U.S.C. 371 of International Patent Application No.PCT/US2017/030144, filed on Apr. 28, 2017, which claims the benefit ofpriority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/328,982, filed onApr. 28, 2016; the entireties of which are hereby incorporated byreference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The invention relates generally to mail processing systems, which aredescribed generally in the prior art, including U.S. Pat. Nos.7,303,188; 7,361,861; 7,777,919; 8,162,214; 5,226,547; 5,398,922;5,521,365; 5,544,758; 6,523,697; 6,571,958; 6,651,878; and 7,185,748.Specifically, the invention relates to mail processing systems having aconveyor that de-shingles or shingles the mailpieces for processingpurposes including weighing, address scanning and postage application.

Background

Mail processing generally includes at least the steps of addressscanning, postage application and weighing of the mailpieces. Scanning,postage application, and other steps may be conducted at a faster ratethan weighing the mail. Therefore, the mail weighing step is ratelimiting for a continuous, streamline process.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An exemplary mail processing system may include conveyors for movingmailpieces to one or more mail processing stations that include anaddress scanner, a postage applicator and/or a scale to weigh eachmailpiece. The mail weighing step requires each mailpiece to bepositioned on the scale in a singulated fashion, whereas the addressscanning and postage application may be conducted with the mailpiecessingulated. In order to achieve high speeds, two or more scales may beincluded in a mail processing system to weigh each mailpieceindividually and then the mailpieces may be shingled for subsequentprocessing, including postage application and/or address scanning.Mailpieces may be shingled prior to reaching the scale for weighing anda de-shingling conveyor may singulate the mailpieces before they arepassed over the scale. Subsequent to the weighing step, the mailpiecesmay enter a shingling conveyor where they are shingled for high speedthroughput In some situations, mail processing system may utilize twopasses for mail processing, wherein in a first pass, the mailpiecesundergo the slower speed weighing step and in a second, higher speedpass the mailpieces undergo processing steps such as address scanningand postage application. In this situation, mailpieces may remainshingled while passing through the scale in the second pass in order tomaintain a faster overall rate of processing in the second pass. In thismanner, the footprint of the mail processing system may be kept smalland overall speeds may be optimized with a multi-pass method ofprocessing the mail.

In an exemplary embodiment, a mail processing system comprises aconveyor that comprises a first belt assembly and a second belt assemblythat can be driven at varying speeds. A camera is configured to takeimages of the mailpieces as they pass into or through the conveyor andthe speeds of the belts may be adjusted to either shingle or de-shinglethe mailpieces. The belt speeds of the first and second belt assembliesare different relatively to belt speeds of other belt assemblies to movea first mailpiece relative to a second consecutive mailpiece in theconveyor, wherein the first mailpiece moves either faster or slower thanthe second mailpiece. In this way, the first mailpiece may be moved tooverlap the second mailpiece to create shingled mailpieces, or the firstmailpiece of shingled mailpieces may be moved to separate from thesecond mailpiece to create singulated mailpieces with a distance betweeneach singulated mailpiece. A controller may utilize image analysissoftware to determine dimensional aspects of the mailpieces and mayutilize these dimensional aspects to control the first and/or secondbelt speeds of the first and second belt assemblies, respectively. Forexample, an exemplary mail processing system comprises a shinglingconveyor and image analysis of images taken by the camera is used todetermine a singulated distance, or gap distance between two consecutivemailpieces in the conveyor and the controller may adjust the belt speed,based on this gap distance, to move the first mailpiece to overlap withthe second mailpiece and create shingled mailpieces. In another example,an exemplary mail processing system comprises a shingling conveyor andimage analysis of images taken by the camera are used to determine ashingle overlap distance of two shingled mailpieces in the conveyor andthe controller may adjust the belt speed, based on this gap distance, tomove the first mailpiece away from the second mailpiece and createsingulated mailpieces. It is to be understood that the controller maycontrol the speed of one or both belts in one or more conveyors to movemailpieces relative to each other, either away from each other ortowards each other to create or increase an overlap distance.

An exemplary shingling conveyor has two belt assemblies that have a mailconveyor portion, wherein a portion of the first belt and a portion ofthe second belt extend parallel with each other to create a pinch tograb and move mailpieces from an inlet to an outlet of the conveyor. Anexemplary shingling conveyor may comprise one, two, three or more beltsand any number of rollers to guide the belts. An exemplary shinglingconveyor comprises a drive, such as a drive motor, that moves the beltsto transfer the mailpieces. A drive motor may be coupled with one of therollers of the shingling conveyor.

An exemplary shingling conveyor comprises a camera that takes images ofthe mailpieces to determine dimensional aspects including a shingledoverlap distance of two shingled mailpieces or a singulated distance orgap distance between two singulated mailpieces. An exemplary camera isconfigured to take images of the edges of the mailpieces in the mailconveyor portion of the conveyor. The controller may then utilize thesedimensional aspects to control the speeds of the belts to move a firstmailpiece with respect to a second mailpiece.

An exemplary mail processing system comprises a mail processing stationthat performs mail processing functions including, but not limited to,address scanning, weighing on a scale, and postage application. All ofthese processes may be in a single mail processing station or one ormore of these processes may be performed separately, as describedherein. For example, singulated mailpieces may be delivered individuallyin a consecutive manner to a scale for weighing. Shingled mailpieces maybe transferred through a mail processing station that performs addressscanning and postage application. A mail processing station may or maynot perform a processing function as mailpieces pass through the mailprocessing station.

An exemplary mail processing system comprises a shingling conveyor thatreceives shingled mailpieces and de-shingles them to deliver singulatedmailpieces to a mail processing station comprising a scale for weighingeach mailpiece individually. The singulated mailpieces may then betransferred to a shingling conveyor wherein the singulated mailpiecesare shingled.

Conversely, an exemplary mail processing system comprises a shinglingconveyor that shingles mailpieces to deliver the shingled mailpieces toa mail processing station comprising a scale that does not weigh eachmailpiece. In this manner, when the scale is not weighing mailpieces,the shingled mailpieces may pass through the scale at a higher rate thansingulated mailpieces. The shingled mailpieces may then be transferredto a shingling conveyor wherein the shingled mailpieces are singulated.

An exemplary method of processing mail utilizing a mail processingsystem as described herein comprises at least one conveyor and a mailprocessing station. An exemplary method of processing mail comprises thesteps of de-shingling shingled mailpieces and then weighing them in amail processing station and subsequently re-shingling the mailpieces ina shingling conveyor.

A further exemplary method of processing mail comprises passingsingulated mailpieces through a mail processing system in a first passto weigh the mailpiece then passing the mailpieces through the mailprocessing system in a second pass in a shingled fashion until themailpieces pass a scale, then singulating the mailpieces to performother mail processing steps such as address scanning and/or postageapplication.

The summary of the invention is provided as a general introduction tosome of the embodiments of the invention, and is not intended to belimiting. Additional example embodiments including variations andalternative configurations of the invention are provided herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention, andtogether with the description serve to explain the principles of theinvention.

FIG. 1 shows top view of a standard loading system.

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of an exemplary mail loading system.

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of an exemplary mail loading systemhaving a mail stack pressing on the loading conveyor.

FIG. 4 shows a top view of a portion of an exemplary mail processingsystem having a first mail conveyor receiving mailpieces from theloading mail feeder.

FIG. 5 shows a top view of an exemplary mail shingling conveyor having afirst and a second belt and a camera to determine a mail overlap.

FIG. 6 show a top view of an exemplary mail shingling conveyor having acamera mounted under the platform and viewing the mail through anopening in the platform to determine a mail overlap.

FIG. 7 shows a side view of an exemplary shingling conveyor.

FIG. 8 shows a side view of an exemplary shingling conveyor.

FIGS. 9 and 10 show exemplary images captured by a camera of mailpiecesin a conveyor.

FIG. 11 shows a top view of an exemplary mail processing system having afirst mail shingling conveyor a mail processor and a second mailshingling conveyor.

FIG. 12 shows a perspective view of a mail conveyor having conveyorbelts and conveyor rollers.

FIG. 13 shows a side view of shingled mailpieces.

FIG. 14 shows a side view of singulated mailpieces.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS

Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding partsthroughout the several views of the figures. The figures represent anillustration of some of the embodiments of the present invention and arenot to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention in anymanner. Further, the figures are not necessarily to scale, some featuresmay be exaggerated to show details of particular components. Therefore,specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not tobe interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis forteaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the presentinvention.

As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,”“including,” “has,” “having” or any other variation thereof, areintended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process,method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is notnecessarily limited to only those elements but may include otherelements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method,article, or apparatus. Also, use of “a” or “an” are employed to describeelements and components described herein. This is done merely forconvenience and to give a general sense of the scope of the invention.This description should be read to include one or at least one and thesingular also includes the plural unless it is obvious that it is meantotherwise.

In cases where the present specification and a document incorporated byreference include conflicting and/or inconsistent disclosure, thepresent specification shall control.

Certain exemplary embodiments of the present invention are describedherein and are illustrated in the accompanying figures. The embodimentsdescribed are only for purposes of illustrating the present inventionand should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the invention.Other embodiments of the invention, and certain modifications,combinations and improvements of the described embodiments, will occurto those skilled in the art and all such alternate embodiments,combinations, modifications and improvements are within the scope of thepresent invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional mail loading system 10 has a loadingconveyor 20 that advances a mail stack 21 comprising a plurality ofmailpieces 22 toward a mail feeder 30. The front mailpiece 26 is pulledby the mail feeder 30 to provide a stream of individual mailpieces 22′.Sometimes the mail feeder draws two mailpieces at a time, due to highpressure on the feeder and/or friction between the mailpieces, to create“shingled” mailpieces 24, wherein there is an overlap between the twoindividual mailpieces 22″ and 22′″. Generally, such double-feeding ofmailpieces is not desirable if it is unintentional. However, multipleconsecutive mailpieces are sometimes intentionally “shingled” similar toa row of shingles on a roof.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, a conventional mail loading system 10 has aloading conveyor 20 that advances mail towards the mail feeder 30. Thefront mailpiece is fed into the mail feeder 30. The mail feeder advancesthe mailpieces in a substantially perpendicular direction from theadvancing direction of the loading conveyor, as shown by the bold arrowsin FIG. 3. The mail stack presses on the mail feeder and one or moremailpieces are advanced into the mail processing system. A controller 60controls the speed of the conveyor and may control the speed of the mailfeeder.

As shown in FIG. 4, a portion of an exemplary mail processing system 100has a conveyor 101, and a shingling conveyor 110, that is receivingmailpieces from the mail feeder 30. The shingling conveyor has a firstbelt assembly 111 and a second belt assembly 115 that form an inlet 112between a first belt 116 and a second belt 118. A camera 50 isconfigured below the platform 152 and is taking images of the mailpiecesas they pass through the shingling conveyor to determine an overlapdistance 170 of the shingled mailpiece 24. Shingled mailpieces 24 areshown being transported through the shingling conveyor. The belt speedsof consecutive conveyors and/or shingling conveyors may be different inorder to de-shingle the mailpieces or to advance at least one ofshingled mailpieces at a faster rate to create a gap between themailpieces, or singulated mailpieces.

As shown in FIG. 5, an exemplary mail conveyor 101, a shingling conveyor110, has a first belt assembly 111 comprising a first belt 116 and asecond belt assembly 115 comprising a second belt 118 that form a mailconveying portion 113, that extends from the inlet 112 to the outlet114. A camera 150 is configured to take images of mailpieces within themail conveying portion to determine a mail overlap of the shingledmailpieces 24 as they pass through the shingling conveyor. The camera ismounted under the platform 152 and views the mailpieces through anopening 154 in the platform. Shingled mailpieces enter the inlet 112 ofthe shingling conveyor 110 and exit the outlet 114 of the shinglingconveyor to be passed to a second shingling conveyor operating at ahigher belt speed in order to singulate the shingled mailpieces. Theshingling conveyor has a plurality of rollers 122 for guiding the belts.A shingling conveyor 110 is a type of conveyor 101, a conveyor that mayoperate at different speeds in order to control an amount of shinglingof mailpieces.

As shown in FIG. 6, an exemplary mail conveyor 101, a mail shinglingconveyor 130, has a first belt assembly 131 comprising a first belt 136and a second belt assembly 135 comprising a second belt 138 that form amail conveying portion 133, that extends from the inlet 132 to theoutlet 134. A camera 150 is configured to determine a singulateddistance 178 between individual mailpieces 22, 22′ in series between thebelts of the shingling conveyor. The camera is mounted under theplatform 152 and views the mailpieces through an opening 154 in theplatform. Singulated mailpieces 22 enter the inlet 112 of the shinglingconveyor and exit the outlet 114 of the shingling conveyor to be passedto a second shingling conveyor operating at a lower speed in order toshingle the singulated mailpieces. The shingling conveyor has aplurality of rollers 122 for guiding the belts. A shingling conveyor 130is a type of conveyor 101, a conveyor that may operate at differentspeeds in order to control an amount of shingling of mailpieces.

Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, an exemplary mail conveyor 101, such as ashingling conveyor 110, has a camera 150 mounted under the platform 152for taking images of the mailpieces as they move through the shinglingconveyor 110. The mailpieces 22, 22′ are shingled mailpieces 24 havingan overlap distance. As shown in FIG. 7, a mailpiece singulated distance178 may be formed between the two individual mailpieces 22 22′.

As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, images 170, such as digital images 171 takenby the camera provide dimensional aspects related to the mailpieces. Theimage is of the edges 36, 36′ of a first and second mailpiece 22, 22′,respectively. Image analysis software 64 is used to determinedimensional aspects of the mailpieces including shingle overlap distance172, leading offset distance 172, trailing offset distance 176 andsingulated distance 178, shown in FIG. 7. One or more of these distancesdetermined through image analysis of the images 170 is used by thecontroller 60, which may comprise a microprocessor 62 and/or a computer65, to control the speed of shingling conveyors to de-shingle or shinglethe mailpieces. The image analysis software 64, or computer program isrun by a computing device, such as a computer 65. If computer 65determines that the mailpieces are shingled when they should not be,computer 65 can cause the mail processing system to stop processingmailpieces or to direct the shingled mailpieces to a reject bin. Thisensures that mailpieces do not stick to each other during portions ofthe mail processing in which the mailpieces should be singulated.Additionally, computer 65 can determine through image analysis of images170 if mailpieces are non-uniform in size and controller 60 can useinformation regarding non-uniformity of size to make real-timeadjustments to the speed of shingling conveyors.

As shown in FIG. 11, an exemplary mail processing system 100 has a firstmail shingling conveyor 110, a mail processor 160 and a second mailshingling conveyor 130 configured in series, wherein singulatedmailpieces are received by the mail processor from the first shinglingconveyor and received by the second shingling conveyor from the mailprocessor. In this mail processing system 110, shingled mailpieces arede-shingled by the first shingling conveyor 110 to provide singulatedmailpieces, or mailpieces in series with a singulated distance betweenthem to the mail processor. Alternatively, if the first shinglingconveyor 110 receives singulated mailpieces, the first shinglingconveyor maintains the mailpieces in singulated fashion and transportsthem to the mail processor. The mail processor may comprise an addressscanner 162 to determine an address for delivery, a scale 164 todetermine the weight of each mailpiece, and/or a postage applicator 166,that stamps or otherwise marks the mailpiece with appropriate postage. Ascale display 165 shows the weight of mailpiece 22 in the mail processor160. A mail processor may also comprise any other apparatus desired thatperforms a mail processing function. For example, a mail processor maycomprise a biohazard check apparatus, consisting of a roller thatcompresses a mailpiece to force air out of the mailpiece and a vacuumand sensor apparatus configured to check the air for hazardoussubstances.

As described herein, weighing of mailpieces can be a slower step thanother process steps in a mail processing system because it requiressingulated mailpieces and processes the mailpieces at a slowerthroughput rate than other portions of the system. Accordingly, when thescale 164 is used to weigh mailpieces, an exemplary mail processingsystem 100 uses a first mail shingling conveyor 110 to ensure mailpiecesare singulated before they are weighed by scale 164. When the scale 164is not used to weigh mailpieces, for example when a weight is notrequired for the processing being performed, an exemplary mailprocessing system 100 uses a first mail shingling conveyor 110 to ensuremailpieces are shingled before they pass through scale 164. In thismanner, a greater number of mailpieces may pass through scale 164 in aset amount of time despite scale's 164 relatively slow rate of transferof mailpieces. The second mail shingling conveyor 130 singulates themailpieces after they pass through the scale 164 for subsequentconveyors operating at a higher rate of speed and processing by othermail processors that are not as rate-limited as scale 164. Somecommercially available scales include belts that are part of the scaleunit. Scale belts may sometimes be settling belts in which mailpiecessettle on top of a belt rather than pinched between two belts. Scalebelts frequently operate only at a certain relatively slow belt speed.Thus, scale belts may also be used as shingling conveyors if theyoperate at a slower or faster belt speed than the belt speed of thepreceding conveyor.

As shown in FIG. 12, an exemplary conveyor 101, a shingling conveyor,has conveyor belts 116, 118 and a plurality of rollers 122 to supportand guide the belts. It is to be understood that any number of belts maybe configured on the first belt assembly 111 or second belt assembly115. The belt or belts of the first belt assembly 111 have a portion orextension that runs substantially parallel with a portion of the secondbelt assembly 115 to produce a mail conveying portion 113 between thetwo belt assemblies. As shown in FIG. 12, the first belt assembly hasthree belts and the second belt assembly has three belts that runparallel with the belts from the first belt assembly in the mailconveying portion 113. Mailpieces will be pinched between the two belts116, 118 to move the mailpieces from the inlet 112 to the outlet 114 ofthe conveyor 101.

As shown in FIG. 13, two mailpieces 22, 22′ are shingled mailpieces 24,wherein the first mailpiece 22 overlaps the second mailpiece 22′ by ashingle overlap distance 172. The first mailpiece 22 has a leadingoffset distance 174 and the second mailpiece has a trailing offsetdistance 176. These dimensional features of the mailpieces may bedetermined through image analysis of images captured by a camera as themailpieces move through a conveyor. Shingled mailpieces may include two,three or more mailpieces, wherein each mailpiece overlaps with a leadingand trailing mailpiece. The camera may take images of the edges 36 ofthe mailpieces. The address scanning may view the address 28 on the face38 of the mailpieces and the overlap distance 172 may be small enoughfor the address of shingled mailpieces to be scanned. The postage 29 isshown being applied to the mailpieces.

As shown in FIG. 14, two mailpieces 22, 22′ are singulated mailpieceswherein there is not overlap of the two mailpieces and there is asingulated distance 178, or gap distance between the two mailpieces.

As described above, one exemplary embodiment of the invention allows formultiple passes of mailpieces through the mail processing system,including a first pass in which scale 164, as shown in FIG. 11, weighssingulated mailpieces, and a second pass in which scale 164 does notweigh mailpieces but shingled mailpieces pass through scale and aresubsequently singulated for further processing.

Scales used in mail processing systems must be approved by the relevantpostal authority in the geographic area in which the mail processingsystem is to be used. For example, in the United States, a mailprocessing system must have a scale approved by and registered with theUnited States Postal Service if the mail processing system is to be usedto process outbound mail requiring weighing and the addition of postage.Such approved scales generally have the major drawback of operating atrelatively slow speeds. Approved scales typically operate atapproximately 80 inches per second, meaning that they can accuratelyweigh mailpieces that travel over the scale only at a speed in which thescale receives a maximum of 80 inches of mailpiece length each second.80 inches per second is approximately equivalent to 10,000 averagemailpieces per hour. By contrast, advances in digital cameras, computerprocessors, and feeding and sorting mechanisms have enabled mailprocessing systems to otherwise operate at speeds of up to 30,000mailpieces per hour, or even higher. The scale is therefore thespeed-limiting step of most mail processing systems. This speedlimitation is compounded by the fact that mailpieces are often sorted inmultiple passes through the mail processing system, but need only beweighed by the scale during one of the multiple passes. Such scalesgenerally cannot be adjusted to run at different speeds, meaning thatmailpieces pass through the scale at a set rate of inches per secondregardless of whether the scale is actually weighing the mailpieces. Themere presence of an approved scale in a mail processing system,therefore, may significantly slow down processing of mail even whenweighing is not required for the particular processing being done on agiven pass. These slower speeds can add up to significant delays andcosts.

In this exemplary embodiment, mailpieces are processed in two passesthrough a mail processing system. In the first pass, the mailpieces areweighed by scale 164. In the second pass, the mailpieces are not weighedby scale 164 and it is desired that the processing of the second passnot be limited by the speed of the scale.

In the first pass, mailpieces are fed into the mail processing system.First and second mail shingling conveyors shown in FIG. 11 are adaptableto rotate at varying belt speeds depending on the purpose of the currentpass for which mailpieces are being processed. The mailpieces proceedinto the mail processing system in a shingled fashion. Before the lineof shingled mailpieces reaches scale 164, they reach first mailshingling conveyor 110, which rotates at a higher speed relative toprevious conveyors. When the leading edge of a mailpieces reaches firstmail shingling conveyor 110, it is “yanked” forward by the higherrelative speed, separating it from the other mailpieces with which itwas shingled. In this manner, mailpieces are singulated before theyreach scale 164 and are thus weighed one mailpiece at a time by scale164. The mailpieces then proceed to second mail shingling conveyor 130and through the remainder of the mail processing system. The speed ofthe first pass is limited by the maximum speed at which scale 164 canweigh mailpieces, approximately 10,000 mailpieces per hour.

In the second pass, mailpieces proceed through the mail processingsystem in the same path as the first pass. In the second pass, firstmail shingling conveyor 110 rotates at the same speed as previousconveyors. Thus, the shingled mailpieces remain shingled as they passthrough first mail shingling conveyor 110 and scale 164. In this pass,second mail shingling conveyor 130 rotates at a higher speed relative tothe speed of first mail shingling conveyor 110 and scale 164. When theleading edge of a mailpiece reaches second mail shingling conveyor 130,it is yanked forward by the higher relative speed, separating it fromother mailpieces with which it was shingled. In this manner, mailpiecesare singulated after they have passed through scale 164 and can then beprocessed in any number of ways other than weighing such as sorting,barcode reading, barcode printing, optical character scanning, etc. Whenmailpieces are shingled, a greater number can proceed through scale 164in a period of time (approximately 20,000 mailpieces per hour) than canproceed through scale 164 in the same period of time if the mailpiecesare singulated and separated by a singulated distance 178 (approximately10,000 mailpieces per hour).

Thus, the mail processing system can be adapted to operate in a mannersuch that mailpieces proceed through scale 164 in either a singulated orshingled fashion depending on whether weighing is required for aparticular pass of mailpiece processing. Mailpieces proceed throughscale 164 in a singulated fashion in a pass for which weighing isrequired. Optimally, mailpieces pass through scale 164 at the maximumrate (approximately 80 inches per second) of scale 164. In a pass forwhich weighing is not required, the mailpieces pass through scale 164 ina shingled fashion and can pass through scale 164 at a higher rate(approximately 20,000 mailpieces per hour) than in a weighing pass(approximately 10,000 mailpieces per hour) because the shingling allowsa greater number of mailpieces in a given number of inches.

In a second exemplary embodiment, mailpieces are processed in a singlepass through a mail processing system and a mail processing system witha larger footprint may be used. In this embodiment, mailpieces enter themail processing system in shingled fashion. Using first and second mailshingling conveyors 110, 130, the mail processing system singulatesshingled mailpieces and directs every other mailpiece to a first scale164 and a second scale 164′. By using two or more separate scales 164,164′ in parallel, the mail processing system may maintain a higheroverall throughput speed, despite having to singulate mailpieces forweighing.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications, combinations and variations can be made in the presentinvention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.Specific embodiments, features and elements described herein may bemodified, and/or combined in any suitable manner. Thus, it is intendedthat the present invention cover the modifications, combinations andvariations of this invention provided they come within the scope of theappended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A mail processing system comprising: a) a firstconveyor and a second conveyor, each comprising: iii) an inlet; and iv)an outlet; b) a camera configured to capture images of said mailpieces;c) a controller; d) image analysis software configured to determinedimensional aspects with respect to a first mailpiece and a secondmailpiece in series; e) a mail processing station configured between thefirst conveyor and the second conveyor that receives mailpieces from theoutlet of the first conveyor said mail processing station comprising:wherein the second conveyor is configured to receive mailpieces from themail processing station; wherein the controller controls the speed ofeach conveyor to move said first mailpiece relative to said secondmailpiece so as to achieve a desired distance or degree of overlapbetween said first mailpiece and said second mailpiece; wherein thefirst mailpiece and the second mailpiece are shingled in the mailprocessing station; wherein the first mailpiece and the second mailpieceare singulated in the second conveyor from the shingled mailpieces inthe mail processing station, whereby the first and second mailpiecesexit the outlet of the second conveyor as singulated mailpieces.
 2. Themail processing system of claim 1, wherein the camera determines ashingle overlap distance and detects if the mailpieces are singulated.3. The mail processing system of claim 1, wherein each of the firstconveyor and a second conveyor comprise: i) a first belt assemblycomprising: a first belt; a first drive; ii) a second belt assemblycomprising: a second belt; a second drive; wherein the first belt andthe second belt of both the first conveyor and the second conveyorextend substantially parallel to each other to convey mailpieces fromsaid inlet to said outlet; wherein the first belt of the second conveyoris driven at a faster belt speed than the second belt of the secondconveyor to singulate the first and second mailpieces.
 4. The mailprocessing system of claim 1, wherein the camera and the image analysissoftware determine a singulated distance or an overlap distance andrejects mail pieces that are shingled.
 5. The mail processing system ofclaim 1, wherein the mail processing station comprises a scale tomeasure the weight of the mailpieces.
 6. The mail processing system ofclaim 5, wherein the mail processing station further comprises anaddress scanner to determine a mailing address of said mailpieces. 7.The mail processing system of claim 6, wherein the mail processingstation further comprises a postage applicator that marks the mailpieceswith postage.
 8. The mail processing system of claim 1, wherein the mailprocessing station further comprises an address scanner to determine amailing address of said mailpieces.
 9. The mail processing system ofclaim 1, wherein the mail processing station further comprises a postageapplicator that marks the mailpieces with postage.
 10. The mailprocessing system of claim 1, comprising two scales and wherein thesecond conveyor receives mailpieces from each of the two scales.